Centre, states agree on new platform for GST

IT infra for the new tax regime will be ready by Feb 2011.

The government will float a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for setting up information technology (IT) infrastructure for the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST). The SPV, called GST N (Network), will have the Union government, the states and a technology partner as its stakeholders.

In a presentation given to the empowered committee of state finance ministers today, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman Nandan Nilekani assured that IT infrastructure for GST would be ready in the next six months, that is, by February 2011 — two months ahead of the proposed introduction of GST.

“The IT infrastructure will be ready by April 2011. Most of the states have agreed to the strategy laid out by Nilekani. In this system, taxpayers will directly deal with one common network, while states and the Centre can do the audit through their respective systems like ACES or TINXSYS,” sources told Business Standard.

The finance ministry has laid out a roadmap for the formation of the SPV. It has proposed setting up an empowered group chaired by Nilekani, with joint representation from the Centre and the states. The group will choose technology and the vendor for time-bound implementation of GST. The technology partner could be National Securities Depository Ltd or National Payments Corporation of India.

The empowered committee on IT will include people from five states who will represent most advanced, moderately advanced and least advanced states in terms of the use of technology. One of these could be a north-eastern state. The group will be formed by July 25.

The SPV will be formed by August 10 and by December 1 it will start testing of a tax platform interface with taxpayer software. By January 1, 2011, it will start testing the Centre’s system with that of states. By February 1, it will be prepared with facilitation centres for businesses which do not have computers. The SPV will also provide assistance to states which do not have required IT infrastructure for the GST rollout.

“One measure that would immensely facilitate simplification is the use of information technology so that physical interface between the taxpayer and the administration is minimised… Since this infrastructure needs to be in place well before the actual introduction of GST in April next year, decisions have to be made with great alacrity and speed,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in another meeting later in the day.